


Family Trees

by Linorien



Series: 007 Fest 2016 [13]
Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies), James Bond - All Media Types, Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - All Media Types
Genre: and some mentions of other characters, no real knowledge of Perfume needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-27 00:49:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7596865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linorien/pseuds/Linorien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, it is down to family to save the world. And sometimes, that family involves two quartermasters and one perfumer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Family Trees

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Skylocked](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skylocked/gifts).



> For crossover day.   
> Thank you to [amarulasmile](http://amarulasmile.tumblr.com) for looking over this.

Q’s family had been an odd one long before the quartermaster was born. Although they might not be from a noble family, they had ways of tracing their roots back incredibly far. Part of the family rules, was that you must keep a journal (or journals) of your accomplishments. These usually turned into rambling journal entries about experiments gone wrong or the struggles of raising a family of similarly crazy children. All of these journals were housed in the family home in Wales. There were only a few exceptions.]

Exception 1: Grace Hopper, Rear Admiral in the US Navy, and inventor of the first computer compiler. Her journal is in the Smithsonian.

Exception 2: Timothy O’Neill, codename Merlin, quartermaster of Kingsman, and Q’s uncle.

Exception 3: Q’s own journals.

The latter two were kept in secure vaults within their places of employment. Although they did not write down government secrets, the documentation of their inventions would not be safe in the hands of the general public, and it would certainly not do to have their family get a hold of them. 

Every child in their family grew up reading the journals of history. Most were placed back on the shelf with no further thought. But some stuck with the reader for the rest of their lives. And sometimes, the past proved useful in the most unusual of circumstances.

***

A notification on Q’s personal laptop let him know he had a new email from Merlin.

_ Thank you for you and your agent’s help in Kentucky. I must admit that was a good plan to get the other one back on board. Far more violence than we had expected though. It seems just being in the vicinity of the phones can cause effects. Keep me updated on any new findings. -M _

_ That certainly is worrying. I will look into the causes of that and research ways to counteract. -Q _

Q returned to his video chat with Bond.

“That was just Merlin checking in,” he said. “He thanks you again for helping to fake Galahad’s death. Their agent in training is back on board now.”

“I’m glad. He seemed like a good kid. Why didn’t SIS pick him up?”

“The service may be brutal, but it does not like to recruit young men that are keeping their family together. His mother and younger sister need him.” 

“And yet he has still run off to become a secret agent,” Bond returned. 

“Fair, but this one runs in the family. And Kingsmen tries to work around family first and foremost.” Q knew his uncle had made sure that stayed one of the core values of the institution. After all, their family was a prime example of how blood can prove advantageous. “How is Galahad’s recovery?”

“You can see for yourself.” Bond turned the camera to see the older gentleman sitting up in bed and working on a spare laptop. He glanced up and gave a nod of acknowledgment to Q. “He is still a little more pale than usual, slight headaches, but should be good by tomorrow.”

“I’ll let the doctors be the judge of that when you both fly back home. I know how you agents lie.” Bond only grinned in response before hitting the button to end the call. Q sighed and returned to his research. 

 

It was later that evening when Q happened upon his breakthrough. Leaving his office in a frenzy, barely hitting the lock key on his laptop as he rushed out the door, he ignored his staff as he rushed to his private vault below the branch. He wanted to curse the intricate locks he had installed for taking too long, but he knew its importance. Sliding up the cover on the touch screen, he selected the correct item and waiting for the retrieval system. 

To anyone else, the small vial would seem ordinary. An old perfume, perhaps. And they would be partially correct. It was an old perfume. But it was the farthest thing from ordinary. This perfectly engineered scent had only ever been used once before. This was the backup supply; the only sample left in the world. And if Q’s mad theory was correct, it may be the way of saving them all.

He hurried back upstairs and called together his chemists. They gathered in one of the chem labs and Q engaged the soundproofing system.

“I’m sure you all remember the SIM cards I warned you against purchasing and the man behind the scenes.” They nodded. It was a source of much research in the labs for a while trying to figure out how he could promise unlimited free internet usage to so many people. “Last night in Kentucky was the first test of what these cards are actually for.” 

“The massacre in the church?” Shara asked in disbelief. “How did they do that?”

“I’m still working on that. It seems that Valentine can activate the SIM cards to control the mind of those in the vicinity. All normal inhibitions flee and only violence and hatred is left.”

“Shit,” someone whispered.

“That puts it lightly,” Q said. “95% of the churchgoers were killed because there was also an agent on a mission in there.” He paused to let that sink in. “I don’t think I have to tell you the dangers if this gets unleashed on a population with thousands of servicemembers and martial arts hobbyists in its midst. Our primary goal at the moment is ensuring the safety of MI6.” He set the bottle of perfume down on the centre table. “I cannot tell you what this chemical does; I can only say it is highly dangerous, yet it may be a way to counteract this violence. This is the only amount we have and I need you to recreate it. Study it any way you need to, but try to use as little as possible. There is no more.”

His minions immediately began gathering supplies to test the perfume. Q was glad he had such hardworking people to depend on. “Oh, one more thing,” he said before he left. “You may want to narrow your search parameters to chemicals produced by the human body.”

***

As they flew over Norway, Merlin’s mobile rang. From the ringtone he knew it was Q.

“This had better be important,” He said instead of a normal greeting. “I’m flying a plane.”

“Have you found his headquarters?” the younger man asked in disbelief.

“Aye, I’m on my way with the young lad. What have you got for me?”

“A possible way to counteract the violent urges. You read the family journals of course?”

“Of course. What has this got to do with that?”

“Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Perfumist did you read his?”

“The most innocent serial killer, yes, but what--” he cut himself off as he remembered the end. “You don’t think that could work, do you?”

“It just might.”

“And how would you propose to make that? You know what methods he used.”

“There was still one bottle left. I have my people working on discovering the chemical composition as we speak. Even an imperfect version could possibly work to counteract the violent tendencies.”

“That’s fantastic, I need to be here though. No way you could spread it worldwide if you figure it out soon?”

“Send me the coordinates and I’ll see who I know nearby.”

***

As the worldwide violence was triggered, Q branch had only produced an imperfect replica. But deployed throughout the central air system of the building in a concentrated dose, it was enough to keep most of the building subdued and focused. A few sprinters were given headsets and deployed with small quantities of the original to counteract any who were resistant to the replica. Q sent one of these runners to the 00 section as soon as he deployed the replica -- he knew something stronger would be needed for them.

Almost as suddenly as it began, it stopped. The world grew still and had Q looked at his satellite data, he would have noticed an unusual heat spike where Merlin had said Valentine was hiding out. He breathed a sigh of relief. Crisis averted. 

A knock sounded on the door of the branch. He let Tanner in. 

“I think your countermeasure might have worked too well.” As he walked closer, Q saw that the man was covered in hasty lipstick kisses and telltale marks on his neck. His normally neat appearance was no more. He looked like he was barely holding his professionalism together. 

“Shit.”


End file.
